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December 30, 2014

Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) was saved from the grasp of The Capitol & President Snow during the Quarter Quell by District 13 allies. Panem was in chaos as citizens of most districts rose in rebellion & The Capitol retaliated. Civil War broke out. Katniss was asked to join the crusade by being the Mockingjay - a symbol of hope & rebellion.

Honestly, this movie for me is a bit of a let down. I feel that it's a mistake making it two parts because it felt draggy and there are no climax and closure. It felt incomplete. But of course, fuck the viewers. What's more important is money making. That's how Hollywood roles.

The book version of Mockingjay is awesome. It's about Katniss dealing with her trauma... Okey, not just Katniss. All of the tributes too. Besides that, it is also about war. The effects of war. The reality of war. The strategy, the suspense, the fast paced guerilla warfare.

So, I was expecting more out of the movie. Maybe it's me being selfish but I expect more action out of it. I was expecting, if not an all out, at least a short and engaging battle of Katniss and The Capitol troops. Instead, the only action in this movie is the scene shown in the trailer - the part when Katniss shot down two jets using an arrow.

They only show the first part of the book. The emotional parts. The trauma of Quarter Quell. By the way, Katniss... I mean, Jennifer Lawrence did an amazing job as war torn Katniss.

The thing that I love the most about the character Katniss is that she is realistic. She's not super woman. She's human. Heck, she's not even military trained. She's just a normal citizen caught up in war. She falls, she stumbles, she falls again and then struggles to stand back on her feet. When she was offered to be the Mockingjay, she didn't straight away agree and get into character like what most protagonists would.

Jennifer Lawrence portrays the human side of Katniss so well and that's why I love her.

This movie is also about the politics and propaganda of war. They tried to make the mind games and strategic offence and defence between the Capitol and District 13 engaging but I just don't feel the vibe. Meh. Boring.

All in all, like I mentioned before, this movie is draggy and incomplete. Booo Hollywood. Katniss is awesome though.

December 29, 2014

Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter) was a 14 year old robotics genius who loved robot fighting & planned on becoming a professional robot fighting contender. His brother, Tadashi (Daniel Henney) felt that Hiro was wasting his talents & tried to convince him to enrol himself into a university. In his effort to do so, Tadashi brought Hiro to the university science lab, introduced him to his friends; Fred (TJ Miller), Gogo Tomago (Jamie Chung), Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.) and Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), and Baymax (Scott Adsit), an inflatable personal healthcare companion robot. Then, a tragic accident happened & it drove Hiro to upgrade Baymax with advanced armor, weapons & combat skills so that he could find out what really happened.

I was pretty excited about this movie because it's an end product of a collaboration between Disney and Marvel. To be honest, I've never heard of Big Hero 6 comics before they announced the movie. I'm more of a DC fan. I'm excited because if this movie succeeds, it can be the first one to many Marvel Disney collabo. Just imagine, 3D animated Avengers movie. That would be awesome. Hehe. Maybe I'm being quite optimistic there.

Anyway, the movie is good. Disney has been producing and releasing so many great animations such as Lion King, Hercules, Frozen, Toy Story, Monsters, Inc. and many more. Most of them are enjoyed not just by kids but they also cater for adult viewers. How do they do that? How do they attract grown ups? Well, they incorporated the feels. Yeah, the feels. I felt so emotional while watching a few parts of Big Hero 6. One of them is that time when Hiro discovered video recordings of Tadashi working on Baymax. That particular scene just touched me. That's what great about Disney movies. The emotional roller coaster makes most of their movies memorable.

Did I mention roller coaster? Yes I did, did I? It's a roller coaster because there aren't just sad, emotional moments. There are incredibly fun and yet moving moments such as when Hiro took Baymax for a flight test. That scene is amazing. It's one of the key moments of Hiro emotionally connecting with Baymax.

Furthermore, the graphics are amazeballs. Breathtakingly beautiful. I love how they portray the inside of the teleportation portal the most. So many colours and yet so hypnotising.

Character designs and concepts are also great. I love the advanced armour, weapons and costumes. They all go together so well with the various personalities. I'm sure all viewers walked out of the cinema having at least one favorite character. Mine's Honey Lemon. I'm into skinny, bubbly girl.

The biggest star is of course, Baymax. He's so cute and funny but definitely formidable when equipped with his combat equipments. From farting noises and awkward movements to high speed flying and dangerous karate moves. Baymax is indeed a charmer. One of the keys of this movie success is how they manage to give a soul to a soulless robot.

When it comes to Marvel, of course people would expect superhero action! The actions are very astonishing, suspenseful and well elaborated.

If I want to nitpick, then I would definitely go for the predictable story line. However, it's a minor disadvantage because the theme, the action, the cute characters are able to cover it.

All in all, Big Hero 6 is a must watch for kids. It's awesome. I would also recommend it to adults because even though it's not mind blowing, it's still a movie we all can enjoy. I'm 27 and I enjoyed it very much.

December 22, 2014

Men probably are seen by women as not
having much interest in fashion but that thinking is definitely wrong. Nowadays,
men are always waiting on the latest fashion trends of apparel, shoes and
accessories to add into their closet. One of the top choices of clothing all
man must have in their wardrobe is hoodies. However, what are the types of
hoodies which should be owned by men (at least one)? The first hoodie for any
men to own this season is the simple zipper detail hoodie. Hoodies are loved by
men as they serve as the best option for men to spice up their outfit without
putting into much fuss. Men can layer the zipper hoodies on top of a singlet or
tee with the zipper down to create a stylish casual appearance.

Meanwhile, men who prefer a more edgy
type of look should opt for a printed design hoodie. Men can select from the
various printed hoodies designs available in the market and slip it on as a
substitute t-shirt. The colours and graphics printed on the hoodies will surely
add a certain boyish yet tough edge to a man’s character.

The third hoodie which men should
consider purchasing is the denim fabric hoodie. Denim will never go out of
style and men can flaunt it casually around town with confidence. Unleash the
college boy side you have deep down and flashback the school memories while
looking dashingly handsome in them. Match it with Bermuda shorts or even
sweatpants for a complete effortless look.

Interested to buy hoodies for men? Have a look at ZALORA for
a wide range of hoodies online available from various local and international
brands.

It's very near to the beach - Pantai Purnama. I like to refer it as pantai belakang rumah because it's located literally at the back of Ocean View Resort (OVR).

This is the view from behind the back gate of OVR. The road leads straight to the beach.

Yesterday, my wife and kid were away. Wifey has class every Thursday at Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor. When she goes to class, her mother takes care of Ubaid. I took that chance to explore the beach.

On weekdays, there are usually less tourists around. Yesterday, the beach was almost empty. It was very calming and peaceful. See the picture above? Only my set of footprints is there.

The above picture shows water flowing from drains into the sea. This part of the beach is sad to look at for me. It's quite smelly. Bau air longkang. :-( Luckily, there are only a few of these drains, so most parts of the beach are stink and air longkang free.

An army base. No pics allowed. The base seems beautiful and clean. The buildings are all white. Too bad I couldn't snap pics of the buildings.

At this point, I'd walked for almost 45 minutes but forced to walk back because it's getting dark. Next time, I'll get pass those rocks and continue walking.

AWwwwWww... Semoga berbahagia Fifi & Alif... whoever you are.

Back to Thistle again. There's a nice looking restaurant or cafe. Maybe I'll stop by one day to have a meal or two.

I'm loving the beach so much. The water is shallow, so Ubaid can play without me worrying much. There are also spaces for barbecue and camping. Port Dickson beaches certainly lives up to its reputation. So beautiful and calming. Kawan-kawan, jom datang! Kita barbecue!